


Tales of the City

by AutumnEquinox



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Multi, Raphaella is Persephone, canon-typical violence (but not much), mentions of sex work (ts being a nymph)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26180224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnEquinox/pseuds/AutumnEquinox
Summary: A short collection of drabbles about the mechs’ time in the City.
Relationships: Everyone/Everyone, Raphaella la Cognizi/Ashes O'Reilly
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	1. Pomegranate

The City was fascinating. Of course, to Raphaella, any place had something to be curious about, but this one was especially good. The sheer complexity of the structure was enough to be absorbed in for centuries, but recording past exploits of science was a bit more in Ivy’s ballpark. Raphaella loved to learn, of course, but more than that she loved to invent.  
And in the City, blueprints for progress were worth their weight in gold tenfold. The Olympians raced to find the best minds to take under their wing, granting them ample funds and equipments to pursue the noble field of science, as long as they could wring out a profit from the findings. She quickly secured their attention, working with Athena on plans for the Aegis, swapping notes with Daedalus and his son (until the boy tried to take credit for his own work and go fly on his own, and had his terrible accident), but the real bulk of her work was with Demeter.  
Demeter was a generous woman, founder of the largest charity dedicated to feeding the poor citizens of the inner slums. Of course, she also owned nearly all the automated farms feeding the City, and raked in her donations’ worth a thousand times over with the price gouging her monopoly allowed her. A lady still had to make a living.  
Raphaella, or, as she went at the time, Persephone, had found a fascinating challenge in both the mechanical and biological side of those installations. Her technological expertise and breakthrough progress in GMO development had helped Demeter raise the efficiency of her farms by fabulous margins, and the oligarch had quickly proclaimed her the daughter she’d never had. Persephone could have told her new mother she was at least as old as her, but the pretense was a lot of fun.  
Demeter would take her everywhere, doting on her like a doll, showering her with presents and showing her off at charity galas. Persephone was no fool: under the matriarch’s motherly affections was a coldly calculating mind. The woman was trying to buy her love and her loyalty, to make sure she never applied her talents where they could benefit someone else’s pockets. And if there was one thing Demeter worried about, it was how much attention Hades bestowed upon her protégée.  
“She’s worried you’ll spirit me away to the Acheron, you know,” she told them one day, during one of the romantic escapades her “mother” so dreaded. “A fine mind like yours,” she quoted, imitating the melodramatic tremolo of her fretful benefactor, “if you’re not careful, that thug Charon will snatch you right up!”  
Ashes, currently Hades, snickered beside her. They rolled over in the bed to straddle her.  
“Don’t need his help,” they purred, stroking the curve of her jaw with their thumb. “I’ve got other ways to keep you here.”  
She grinned and looped her arms around their neck, pulling them down in a kiss.  
“Oh, you should have seen her face when I received your package the other day,” she laughed when her mouth was again free for such purposes, “I thought she’d faint.”  
“Do you like it?” they asked, twirling the chain of their lover’s new necklace around their finger. The pendant was in the shape of a pomegranate, sparkling with rubies and gold on her throat.  
“You sure know how to spoil a girl,” she crooned. Raphaella was a practical woman for the most part, but she still had a fondness for pretty things. And being spoiled. Perhaps the City was leaving its mark.  
“Anything for my favorite little songbird,” they murmured with a slow grin, running a hand through the golden waves of her hair.  
“I think my dear mother took it as a challenge, she gifted me a whole new penthouse right after.”  
“Ha! She really wants to play that game?”  
“I know you can’t pass up a competition,” she taunted.  
“The old lady doesn’t know who she’s up against. I don’t play fair,” they smirked.  
“Really? And how will you cheat at this game, mia fiamma?”  
They let their hand wander down and made a very compelling argument.


	2. Brunch in the palace of the god of the dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bunch of space pirate spent some time squabbling, flirting and lightly shooting each other while discussing vaguely mythological gossip.

“Good Morning, Chaps! I’ve Got A Delivery For Hades!”  
“Fuck you, TS. Put me down or I’ll melt down your clockwork for bullets!”  
Before the ornate wrought iron gate of Hades’ estate stood two security guards decked in Ferrymen black, currently looking a bit uncertain about the whole situation. They looked back at the wooden automaton and the bedraggled, blood-and-whiskey-stained man it carried over its shoulder. It smiled cheerily, waiting to be let through.  
“That’s Dionysus’ mechanical nymph,” the oldest muttered to his companion. “Call up chief Alecto, see if it’s allowed in.”  
The younger one pulled out a walkie-talkie and asked just that. The answer seemed to include a long string of curses that made the two guards wince.  
\- “... You may pass,” one finally declared.  
They opened the gate and stepped aside, warily eyeing the doll and its cargo as it walked past.  
“Much Obliged, Good Lads!” it chirped.  
Jonny knew by now that there was no point in ordering the Toy Soldier to let him go: it had previous instructions, and would not be listening to new ones until those were fulfilled. That hadn’t stopped him from complaining all throughout the last twenty minutes he’d spent being carried like a sack of potatoes. Certainly at Ashes’ direction, for they had eyes in every filthy maze-like corner of the City, it had found him in a bar freshly torn apart by a monumental general brawl he’d started after his fourth bottle. The fact that he was stinking drunk on a mix of stuff that would have been lethal to a mortal was part of why he was barely actually fighting back, as he felt more like puking than anything else, but mostly he didn’t see the point. If Ashes wanted to see him, then he guessed it was time for a visit.  
Marius was delighting Raphaella and Ashes with the kind of gossip one can only attain by being a god’s therapist when the Toy Soldier entered with its grumpy package.  
“Hello! I Do Hope We Didn’t Keep You Waiting!” it greeted, unceremoniously letting Jonny fall to the floor with a grunt of pain.  
“No worries, dollface,” Ashes replied. “Too drunk to walk on your own, Jonny?”  
“He Resisted! It Was Quite Rude Of Him!”  
“Wow, Jonny, you look like shit,” Raphaella commented. “And I should know, I’ve been working on optimizing fecal-based fertilizers for the last two months.”  
“And you look lovely, as fucking usual,” he grunted, apparently resolved to keep lying face down on the floor.  
“TS, would you mind helping Jonny sober up a bit?”  
“Not At All, Ashes! He Does Seem Like He’s Had One Or Ten Over The Eight!”  
It drew its pistol and shot half of Jonny’s face off before primly sitting down at the table where the three others were brunching.  
Marius’ voice was the first thing to come into focus as Jonny revived.  
“ - truly a fascinating case, and he was telling me about this woman, Ariadne, you might have heard of her - ”  
“You mean from seeing her crying mug plastered on every damn tabloid around for months?” Jonny interjected, getting up to take a seat now that a brief time out from living had cleared up his hangover. He set out to wolf down the communal plate of scones. “That might ring a bell, yeah. Hilarious, if you ask me. Bet you anything those tears were just for the camera. No one poses that artfully in the middle of bawling their eyes out.”  
“Oh, I’m sure of it. I would love to psychoanalyze her. But as I was saying, my esteemed client Dionysus was telling me how he’d picked her up from the depths of despair because her suffering so moved him, which of course means he’s trying to fuck her,” Marius went on. “But he’s taken her under his wing and given her a little job laundering the fruits of some of his less reputable vines, so to speak. But I’m sure there’s more to that particular story, and I’ve been trying to make him crack.”  
“Oh, There Is!”  
Marius turned to the Toy Soldier excitedly, a sparkle of curiosity burning in his eyes.  
“Do tell!” he and Raphaella exclaimed at the same time.  
“I’m Afraid My Contract Quite Clearly States That Am Not To Speak Of The Secrets I Collect!”  
“Awww,” they both sighed, disappointed.  
“Kinda being a tease there, TS,” Jonny complained, getting invested in the story despite himself.  
Marius took its hand in his with a mischievous look on his face.  
“I don’t suppose you can be... Convinced?” he crooned, kissing its hand and winking theatrically.  
There was an assortment of snickers and eyerolls around the table. It giggled, unruffled by his usual antics.  
“Fortunately For You Curious Cats, Mister Dionysus Is In The Habit Of Laying Off His Nymphs Each Weekend For Tax Purposes, And As Such My Contract Doesn’t Apply Right Now!” it beamed.  
“To the letter,” Jonny muttered under his breath, grinning fondly.  
“Spill it, then,” Ashes coaxed, swiping the scones away from Jonny’s greedy grasp.  
“Well You See, He’s Had His Eyes On Her For A Long While, And He Actually Bribed Theseus To Do That Whole Unpleasant Business At The Altar- ”  
“No way!” Marius started scribbling down notes.  
“Give those back!” Jonny glared at Ashes, trying to get his hands on the food again.  
“Mind your manners, kitten, you’re talking to a god,” they taunted.  
“Fuck you.”  
“Not until you’ve had a shower.”  
Their squabbling was interrupted by Brian and Tim entering the room. They both looked somewhat singed, though Brian seemed to have at least made an effort to wipe the soot off.  
“Why, Dear Chaps, Don’t You Two Look Like You’ve Been In The Wars!” the Toy Soldier greeted with a salute.  
“Sorry we’re late,” Brian sighed, taking a seat next to it. “Trouble with Apollo’s cronies again.”  
“There shouldn’t be anymore after that lightshow!” Tim snickered, sitting down on Ashes’ lap even though there was a perfectly good chair still free. Not that they minded, judging by the way they kissed the nape of his neck with a smile.  
“You underestimate his refusal to hear the word “no”,” the pilot grumbled. “He already employs every last oracle in Delphi, and I have no intention of joining the ranks of his pneuma-addicted Pythias. And if he only had the decency to pretend not to stare at my ass every time I have the displeasure of his visit!”  
“Heard he’s quite the looker,” Jonny commented.  
“He’s an insufferable playboy who doesn’t know when to quit,” Raphaella huffed.  
“I have quite enough on my hands with all of you,” Brian grinned. “And I’m not keen on men who threaten to run me out of business like he did that poor Cassandra girl.”  
“Oh, I won’t let that happen,” Ashes promised. “I’m beyond tired of this cocky little twink and his fake tan.”  
“Well, No Matter The Misadventures And Delays, The Important Thing Is That You Made It And Now We Can All Have Brunch Together!” the Toy Soldier cheered, remarkably excited for someone who didn’t eat.  
Ashes finally relinquished the plate of scones to the masses. Visibly savoring the opportunity to show off their godly comfort, they blew a silver whistle to call for servants to bring more food and drinks for everyone. Raphaella launched into an in-depth explanation of her recent work in putting the City’s vast production of biological wastes to good use with cheerful disregard of the fact that everyone was trying to eat and did not understand half the terms she was using anyways.  
“How the fuck do you work with literal shit all day yet still sit here fresh as a rose?” Jonny puzzled.  
“She’s always gorgeous, it’s supernatural,” Marius added.  
“Yeah, it’s fucking unfair!”  
She blew a kiss at them both. Marius swooned dramatically and even Jonny couldn’t help but grin as he flipped her the bird.  
“That’s godhood for you,” she bragged. “I have some very generous benefactors,” she added, winking at Ashes who responded by putting an arm around her. Tim, still on their lap, took the opportunity to pick a flower out of her hair and put it in his own.  
“It Is Ever So Rare We Get The Opportunity For A Proper Courtship!” the Toy Soldier remarked, nodding approvingly.  
“And Demeter is a doting mother,” Raphaella added.  
“Can’t relate,” Jonny and Ashes said in one voice.  
“Don’t get me wrong, though, the science is what I’m really in it for!” she went on, her eyes once again taking a slightly manic gleam. “For example, I’ve been working on rehabilitating contaminated soils through phytoextraction- ”  
“Please, no more,” Jonny whined.  
“Yeah, no offense Raph, but that’s complete Martian to the rest of us,” Tim agreed.  
“Double Dutch, I’m Afraid!” the Toy Soldier followed suit.  
“I wish Ivy and Nastya were here,” she deplored, “Ivy at least would understand what I’m saying, and Nastya could do miracles with the machinery.”  
Yeah, well, they fucked off with the Aurora to do whatever, so screw them,” Jonny grumbled.  
“Aww, We All Know You Miss Them Just As Much As We Do, Jonny!”  
Jonny narrowed his eyes at the Toy Soldier. Marius put his chin in his hands with a riveted “Ooh!” like he was watching a particularly interesting card game. If there had been popcorn he’d be eating it. Brian sighed.  
Jonny tried to draw his pistol on the automaton, but it was much quicker. He fell dead with a bullet in his skull for the second time that morning. Brian sighed again, deeper this time.  
“Anyway, TS, how is it being a nymph? They treating you well?” Ashes asked, disregarding Jonny’s body slumping off his seat.  
“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask as well,” Brian added.  
“Cause if they aren’t we’re going to fuck their shit up beyond recognition,” Tim promised.  
“Oh, That’s So Sweet Of You, Tim!” it beamed. “But Please Don’t Worry About Me, Loves, Everything’s Fine And Dandy! Really, There’s Little More To It Than Singing And Dancing And Making Friends, Which You Know I’m Keen As Mustard On, And Being What I Am I Rarely Get Asked To The Private Chambers Anyways.”  
“But if it happens, you’re fine with that?” they questioned delicately.  
“Well, I Can’t Say I Understand The Appeal Myself, Nor That I Was Really Built For It, But If It Makes Folks Happy Then It’s All Jolly Good!”  
“Well, good to hear.”  
Jonny sat back up with a grunt, wiping the blood of his forehead.  
“Say, Jonny,” Marius stage-whispered, leaning in conspiringly, “I heard through the grapevines that you pissed off a certain Artemis?”  
Jonny’s eyes lit up and everyone around the table turned to attention, ready to hear the story.  
“Well,” he said, savoring the attention as he slipped into a storytelling voice, “Here’s how this tale starts... ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I know what Jonny did to piss off Artemis? Nope. Tune in next time to see if I’ve figured it out.


End file.
